The Arkansas developer seemed to have achieved a life of luxury for himself and his family, with a $1.6 million home in Little Rock, and a vacation house in Florida. This rich lifestyle, however, led to financial trouble in the Jones household. Jones missed a $300,000 balloon payment on his mortgage, and was borrowing against that home to pay for the million-dollar vacation house in Florida.
Even though the defense claims that Jones was worth more than $4 million with hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets, the money troubles were apparently too much to handle, and the Jones family took a trip to the vacation home to get away. Mr. Jones couldn't stay long, though, as he had some business to take care of back in Arkansas.
According to his story, Jones left his family in Florida (dog included) and went home to work. On the night of May 30, 2008, he awoke to intruders, who held him up at gunpoint. The intruders then bound him with duct tape, drenched him in fuel, and left him to die in his burning home. Luckily, he was able to get to a neighbor's house, which is how he survived to tell his tale.
It wasn't long before the victim in the story became the focus of a federal investigation. Aaron Jones went on trial in September, and after only one week in court he was found guilty on three counts of mail fraud, and one count of using fire in the commission of a felony.
While his sentence is yet to be decided, mail fraud carries a possible prison sentence of up to 25 years and a $250,000 fine. The use of fire in commission of a federal felony carries a penalty of 10 years to life.
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